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Fluence Energy plan largest battery storage project for Long Beach

Fluence Energy, the newly created business formed by a mutual collaboration between AES Energy Storage and Siemens has gained a lot of media exposure recently. Most notably is the launch of the planned development of the new energy storage project at Long Beach, California which once complete will be the largest lithium-ion battery storage project in the world.

The new project is part of a larger $2 billion project to repower the area of Long Beach which consists of a range of aging natural gas peaker plants. The plan involves replacing many of the existing plants with more efficient combined cycle facilities as well as delivering the largest battery storage project. The planned storage system, with a capacity of 100MW, will be capable of providing the capacity to meet local requirements in the area and help California achieve its environmental commitments.

The Alamitos energy storage project is due to start later this year with a completion date expected by the end of 2020. The storage project is contracted under a twenty-year power purchase agreement and the Fluence system will be developed in a way to ensure it meets the PPA requirement over its agreed contract life.

Fluence Energy believes the energy storage market is gaining traction every year and is experiencing a similar growth that the solar market previously experienced a few years back. With the accelerated development in storage, Fluence expects additional facilities to be added in the near future, adding multiple smaller systems at different parts of the grid, providing more flexibility and reliability over installing a single, larger system.
Fluence energy was created to deliver cost-effective energy storage systems that improve energy systems and contribute to a more sustainable future. More countries are pushing towards clean energy and shifting away from centralized power systems. As existing infrastructure becomes dates and less reliable, countries are now looking to ways of improving their grid reliability for years to come. The energy storage market is expected to expand to a value in excess of $100 billion by 2030 but at present, the energy storage market is rather disjointed so Fluence has emphasized that it is essential businesses select the right partner to create a successful project.

Fluence consists of a team with over ten years experience in development and deployment and operation of energy storage systems across 15 countries worldwide. The Fluence team will support the development and management of new storage systems for a range of the leading energy industry customers globally.